Religious Studies

The history evidences: the Local Churches that were historically associated with earthly empires were uninterested in the canonical establishment of local churches under their jurisdictions, and therefore usually granted autocephaly to churches only under the pressure of historic circumstances. No exception is the Moscow Patriarchate, which has incorporated the Orthodox Church in Ukraine since 1686.

Ukrainian Orthodoxy and Ukrainian society suffer from division. The majority of Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. The rest of the Orthodox community of Ukraine has chosen a different path of self-proclaimed autocephaly. However, neither the first nor the second path is optimal for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine to date.

Ukrainian Minister of Culture: Seizure of Churches in Crimea Trigged by Russia

Minister of Culture of Ukraine Yevhen Nyshchuk called on Crimeans to maintain interreligious peace and tolerance.

“The Maidan showed how various denominations can coexist peacefully. The whole world knows about our tolerance in these matters. Today the seizure of places of worship in Crimea is being triggered by Russia,” Yevhen Nyshchuk said at a briefing in the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, the official website of the Ministry of Culture reports.

The minister also appealed to the National Security Council with a request to protect the country's information space and to prevent the publication in international media of false information about alleged ethnic or religious hatred in Ukraine.

“The ideology of the Ukrainian people, their whole history, and events on the Maidan have shown that the individual is highly valued in Ukraine! Whereas, for our northern neighbor, the imperial spirit is most valued and individuals are neutralized. This is the difference between Ukraine and Russia. And so accordingly we have affirmed our membership in the civilized world where respect for the individual is most valued. The mission of culture and arts is to call for love and peace. We promote non-violent resistance to evil. And support around the world is very important to us,” said Yevhen Nyshchuk.